Marching On
by Tekrith
Summary: In 1930 Ginny Williams found herself being bullied by three boys while walking home from school. James "Bucky" Barnes and his best friend, Steve Rogers saved her that April afternoon and her life changed forever. Soulmate AU
1. Chapter 1

It was a cool, April afternoon in 1930 that changed little Ginny Williams' life forever. Even at the 11 years old she knew have known not to cut through the dark alleyway tucked in in between the butcher shop and Doctor Mason's office, but it was getting late and cutting through the alley would cut five minutes off of her walk. She knew that if her daddy got home before she had, well it wouldn't be pretty. Her long chestnut hair bounced on her shoulders as she tried to hurry, running would make her sweaty and then daddy would know that she hadn't gone straight home.

Just as she was halfway through the alley, two tall, well-groomed teenagers that she recognized from school, blocked her exit. The first boy, was the taller of the two, dirty blonde hair perfectly framed his face, his perfectly pointy nose was stuck up in the air as if he smelled something horrible, as it often was and he sneered at her. The second boy, another blonde with a sneer was slightly shorter. Both wore fancy, expensive clothes. These boys were trouble. Ginny stopped and stood still, contemplating going forward or turning back to go the long way home. Would it be worth her daddy's wrath just to avoid them? No, not really. But these same boys had beat up little Billy Brown and his younger sister just days before and got away with it. Not wanting to take a chance on being their next victim, Ginny made the decision to turn around and go back the way she came. When she turned, she found herself walking directly into the third member of their trio.

He was the tallest of the three, with hair as dark as charcoal and a pale, pointed face. Ginny forced the panic she was felling down and turned back to the other two. They had moved closer, trapping her between them. "Well, well, well fellas, take a gander at what we have here." The plummy voice of the leader sent tremors of fear down through the young girl. "W-what do you want Charlie?" Ginny tried to hide her stammer, showing her fear would get her nowhere. The boys began to circle her like vultures, cruel grins on their faces. Charlie, the leader, stepped forward, grabbing at the straps that held her school books together and tossing them to John, the shorter of Charlie's cronies.

"Give them back!" The small girl cried out, she needed those books and didn't have the time to waste. Instead of John giving her back her belongings, he tossed them to Henry as she tried to reach for them. Frustrated and close to tears, Ginny turned to reach towards Henry, only for him to toss the books back to Charlie. "What are you going to do about it? Run home and cry to mommy?" He taunted, causing her to freeze, her shoulders sagging. "Oh, that's rights, you can't, you don't have one." He laughed, his friends joining in.

Ginny felt the tears slip down her cheeks as she closed her green eyes. He was not wrong; a girl couldn't count on her dead mother to make things right. Opening her eyes, she turned to Charlie. "What do you want from me? You know I don't have anything that I could give you. No money, you're two grades ahead of me, the books are no use to you! Just give them back and leave me alone, please!" She knew she was practically begging now, and begging would get her nowhere. It couldn't hurt to try though. She squared her shoulders as Charlie stepped towards her, she could feel his foul breath on her face. "Who said I wanted anything from you? You're just a waste of space."

Before she could respond, Charlie was yanked away from her, Henry and John took off, not waiting around to see who it is or what would happen, if their leader would go down, he'd go down alone, she watched them leave, running down the alley the way that they came. Turning back to Charlie she was surprised to see him being held against the dirty brick wall by a tall boy with dark hair. "Drop the books, and get lost," He was calm, but stern, the threat was thinly masked, but she could hear it just skimming the surface. She heard her books hit the ground with a thud and watched as the stranger released Charlie from his grip. "Now scram!" Charlie, it seemed, did not need to be told twice. He took off, looking back once before disappearing out of sight.

With the bullies gone, Ginny was able to relax a bit. She didn't know who the boy was, but she was sure grateful. He turned to face her, rolling the long sleeves of his shirt back down to his wrists, a small smirk on his face, his light blue eyes shined brightly. Looking down at her feet, she took a moment to collect herself and wipe away the tears. Looking back at him she smiled weakly. "T-thank you, I'm sure they would have left me alone eventually, but thank you." It came out barely above a whisper and she knew it was a lie, they would not have left until they were satisfied.

"Scum like t hem don't give up, they have all the money they could want, they pick on the little guy because they enjoy it. But you're welcome." His voice, although smooth, cracked slightly. He chuckled a little to himself before continuing, he walked over to a much shorter, sandy blonde haired boy that she hadn't noticed before. He looked like a good gust of wind could knock him over, the taller boy put his hand on his shoulder. "Besides, if I didn't step in, Steve here, he'd never stop nagging me about it." Ginny wasn't sure how she should take that, did he only help because his friend told him to? Either way, she was just happy to have been helped.

The little guy, Steve, shrugged off his friend's hand, bending down to pick up her books before shyly handing them to her. Happy to have them back in her possession, she gripped them to her chest. "Thanks, Steve, right?" It would be impolite to to ask, even if his friend made it obvious who he was. He nodded the affirmative. Clearly, Steve was not much of a talker. "My daddy would wallop me something awful if I lost these." All at once she began to panic, there was no way that she'd get home before him now. "Oh no, I'm late, I'm so late!" She was almost in tears again. Poor Steve looked to his friend as if asking what he should do, he had no idea of how to deal with a crying girl. Luckily for him, his friend had three younger sisters.

"Tell you what, uh…what's your name?" The friend question, eyebrow raised. "Ginny," She responded without hesitating. She probably shouldn't have given them her name but they did just save her. "Ginny, right, James, Barnes, at your service, you can call me Bucky. Now, how about, Stevie here and I walk you home?" Ginny attempted to refuse, sure they were nice, but she really shouldn't show up at home with two strange boys, daddy wouldn't like that. Sensing that she was going to refuse, he continued. "Look, those three idiots? They could still be around, and I don't want you to get halfway home just to have them follow you and have another go at you."

Ginny wanted to say that he was wrong, she wanted to believe that they were scared off for good. However, these boys were known for picking a target and going after them until they got bored. Maybe if they didn't come all the way… "Okay, you can walk with me, but you can't come all the way, you can watch me from down the street if you want, but my father, he's…well he just doesn't like us having company and he's already going to be angry that I'm late." Bucky nodded, draped his arm over his friend's shoulder and looked at Ginny. "Lead the way fair maiden! Your knights are ready to fight for your honor." Ginny couldn't help but laugh, happy to have a distraction and someone who had a sense of humor was a nice breath of fresh air.

They walked for 15 minutes, Bucky telling stories of he'd had with Steve since they met earlier in the year. Apparently, they'd gotten to be very close in the short time that they'd met, more like brothers already rather than having only met months before. They'd snuck out of school once to go to Coney Island, she was slightly jealous, she'd never had the chance to go, her dad could barely afford their home let alone buy his alcohol. By the time, they arrived on her street she'd learned a lot. As it turned out, Steve and Ginny went to the same school. He had health problems and so tended to stay indoors during the off periods, hiding in the library, reading all the books that he could. He was also a grade ahead which added to the reason she'd never met him before. Bucky, being a grade ahead of Steve, was in high school but since meeting Steve would swing by and pick him up after school every day, Steve didn't know how to stay out of fights and it was easier for Bucky to keep an eye on him this way.

When they'd gone as far as she was willing to let them follow, she stopped. "I'm the fourth house down on the left, you can wait and watch me go in if you want, but I can't chance daddy seeing you," It was unfortunate really, she thought. Steve and Bucky would have made good friends, but girls weren't friends with boys, and if her daddy saw them, who knows what he would do. Bucky however, wasn't going to let it go. "I'd rather walk you to the door, but if you really don't want us too, that's fine." He rubbed the back of his neck before shoving his hands in his pockets. "You know, since I'm picking Steve up anyway, why don't Stevie and I walk you home every day? Those boys, they aren't going to stop just because I got rid of them once, even if you don't agree, we'll just follow you anyway."

If he didn't seem like the big protector type, Ginny would almost be concerned, but he didn't give off any indication that he'd be trouble, well, not other than the shenanigans that he and Steve had gotten up to she thought. Looking to Steve, he just shrugged as if he knew that no matter what she said it would happen. Looking back at Bucky she simply shook her head as he smiled back at her. "I'm not getting rid of you any time soon am I?" She said, starting to giggle.

Bucky's smile grew into a full-on grin. "Nope, I expect see you tomorrow, 3 o'clock at the front steps, Steve will be waiting there too."

Ginny shook her head, laughing as she backed away slowly. "Alright, fine, 3 o'clock at the steps. Steve? I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good night fellas." With that she turned and made her way to her home, happy that she'd made some friends, and hoping that her father wasn't home yet. Reaching her door, she stopped and turned for one last look back at the boys. Bucky was leaning against a lamp post, arms crossed against his chest while Steve stood awkwardly by his side. Bucky lifted one arm, waving to her, Steve hesitated to follow his lead. Smiling, she waved back briefly before opening the door and going inside. Leaning her back against it, maybe things would change for her, maybe her life would get just a little bit happier now that she'd met Bucky and Steve.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I am so, so sorry for the wait. I actually had this chapter done ages ago and posted on AO3, I kind of forgot I was posting here as well. My apologies! I feel awful about it! I'm aiming for a once a week/once every two weeks posting schedule. Life is pretty busy with school. There is one more chapter in 1930, the way I'm doing this, there will be a chapter or two for each important event up until we hit the first film, then we'll be at a steady pace following it.**

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Ginny's small amount of happiness from the night before did not last long. As she had feared, her father had indeed been home when she walked through the door. He had not been pleased in the slightest that she hadn't had dinner ready when he returned from work. She barely had time to set her books down before he had removed his belt. She didn't fight him, she'd learned years ago, that it was better that way. The less she fought, the quicker it would be over and then she could take care of whatever injury resulted.

Thankfully he was too tired to do too much damage and after ten good hits he demanded that she make dinner so that he could go out. No doubt he'd be heading to his favourite speakeasy so that he could get well and truly drunk. She both loved and hated when he went drinking. She loved it because it meant that she could go out and visit friends or read a book without having to worry about her father, on the other hand, when he came home she's sometimes end up on the end of his belt. For the most part though he left her alone, just as long as she did as she was told.

Sure enough, minutes after he finished dinner he was out the front door and Ginny was able to let out a relieved breath. She quickly cleared the table and did the dishes before heading to the bathroom and taking a good look at her back in the mirror. Thankfully this time it wasn't bad. Sure, it would hurt for awhile, but she'd had worse. She took a quick bath before heading to her room where she worked on homework and read a book before going to bed.

When she woke up the next morning she got dressed for school and made her way into the living room, finding her father passed out on the couch, there were plates on the coffee table. "Not again." she muttered to herself. Moving to the kitchen she opened the icebox, sure enough, he'd eaten the last of their food. She'd have to go without breakfast or a lunch for school again.

With no other reason to stick around, she returned to her room, grabbing her books and heading out the front door. There was no point in making sure he got up for work, the nights that he passed out on the couch he never went in to the factory.

She had no problems getting to school, she'd half expected Charlie and his minions to show up but she was happy that they didn't. The morning turned out to be uneventful, just a typical day. As it got closer and closer to lunch however she found herself wishing she'd be able to eat breakfast, her stomach was growling and she started to have trouble concentrating on her math lesson. When it was finally time to break for lunch Ginny decided to head to the library. She and the other students were supposed to eat in their classroom before heading outside for 45 minutes, because she had no lunch she figured she should go looking for her new friend and see if he wanted some company.

When she arrived at the dusty old library she spotted Steve at a table in the front corner of the room, sketching in a worn-out notebook. Before she could make her way over to him, she was blocked by the librarian. An elderly woman, Mrs. Phillips wasn't well known for being nice. Her short, grey hair made it easy to spot her stern gaze from across a room.

"Miss Williams, you should be either eating or outside, not in here, what are you doing in here?" The old woman asked, eyebrow raised and arms crossed against her chest.

"Hi Mrs. Phillips, I was hoping to keep my friend company, I know he's usually alone during lunch and…" Mrs. Phillips held up her hand, her features softening a bit, she looked over at Steve before eyeing her once more. "Miss Williams, that's very sweet of you. I'm sure Mr. Rogers would appreciate it. He does not seem to have too many friends, go ahead." With that she walked back to her desk where she picked up a book of her own and began reading.

Ginny walked slowly over to Steve, he had his back to her and he was so immersed in whatever he was drawing that he didn't even look up when she reached his table. Looking over his shoulder she could see that he was drawing the scene outside the window, he had nearly perfectly replicated the tree, he'd added a little dog to the scene, it was lying next to the trunk. It was beautifully done.

She waited until he'd taken his pencil off of the page, not wanting to startle him and ruin his work. When he finally finished off the empty tree branches he set his pencil down and looked out the window. She decided that then would be a good time to say hello.

Ginny walked around the left side of the table, smiling when he jumped slightly as she appeared. He recovered quickly though and smiled shyly at her.

"Hi Steve, I hope you don't mind me coming to sit with you. You guys mentioned that you're usually in here so I thought, why not come keep you company?" She was rambling slightly, hoping that he wouldn't just tell her to go away.

"S-Sure, I don't mind." Ginny smiled and sat down, Steve kept his eyes more on his paper, glancing up at her briefly.

"I really like your drawing, you're really talented Steve, I can barely draw a circle." Ginny chuckled. The last time she'd actively tried to draw her teacher had laughed at her and told her to find another hobby. Not exactly the nicest, but she was right.

Ginny frowned when Steve didn't reply, he just stared at the notebook in front of him, which honestly seemed strange to her, he didn't seem like someone who would ignore someone. He seemed to feel her staring at him and looked up at her, his blue eyes meeting her green.

"Oh…did I miss something again? I'm sorry, I'm pretty much deaf in this ear, so if I'm not looking at you and you're on that side I usually miss what people say." He pointed to his left ear as he spoke and then rubbed the back of his neck, blushing as he did so.

"Oh! It's okay, don't apologize! I was just saying that I like your drawing, I can't draw to save my life, I do write though." For the next ten minutes, Ginny and Steve went through his notebook. A lot of his drawings were random people around Brooklyn, people at the market, people out at the park, and a lot of Bucky and a woman who Steve said was his mother. Four little girls ranging from babies to her own age were also pictured throughout the book, Steve said these were Bucky's younger sisters. The more they talked, the more comfortable he seemed to get.

"You are so talented Steve, I bet you could make good money when you're older doing these." He really could, people loved having their portraits done, he could illustrate books, do editorials for the newspapers.

"Thanks," He seemed kind of cautious about it. "It all depends on if I live that long. I'm sick more often than not." He was definitely sad about that, and who could blame him? It was bad enough to be sick under normal circumstances but to constantly be sick? That would be awful.

Steve frowned at Ginny, realizing that she hadn't brought anything with her, including a lunch. "Did you eat before you came to find me?" Ginny gave a small smile, shaking her head no.

"No, my daddy didn't have time to go to the market yesterday so we only had enough for dinner. It's okay though, I'm used to it." And she was, it wasn't like it was a complete lie. Often they didn't have a lot of food because of him spending his money elsewhere. A half lie couldn't really hurt anything.

Steve seemed to be in thought for a moment, before he reached down to the brown paper bag that she hadn't noticed was at his feet.

"Do you like bologna? Mama makes the best bologna and cheese sandwiches." Was he offering her food? That wasn't very common, food wasn't cheap and money wasn't plentiful.

"I do, but you really don't have to do that Steve, I'll be alright." She replied, trying not to eye the sandwich that he'd brought out.

"It's okay, really, I never eat the whole thing anyway and Mama says that we need to eat at least something at every meal to be healthy. She's a nurse, she knows what she's talking about and would be disappointed if I didn't share." He grinned at her, a knowing grin that seemed to show that he knew he had her beat.

Ginny gave in and thanked him, together they ate, talking about random topics. Steve was a big fan of the Dodgers and really wanted to go to a game. Ginny wasn't that much of a baseball fan, but then she really didn't understand the sport.

Near the end of the lunch period, Steve opened up his notebook again while Ginny was looking out the window, to the page that held the picture of the tree and the dog, quickly and as neatly as possible he signed his name and carefully tore the page out of the book. When Ginny turned her attention back to him as the bell rang, he pushed the picture across the table towards her.

"Here Ginny, since you like it so much, and you kept me company I want you to have this. Maybe we could do this again tomorrow? Lunch is a lot more pleasant when you have good company." He blushed as he spoke.

Ginny sat wide-eyed for a moment before standing and pulling the only slightly taller boy into her arms for a hug. He tensed before hugging her back.

"We can have lunch together every day if you want. I'm going to put this right on my wall when I get home." Ginny was so happy she could cry. She'd never really had friends and she was absolutely sure this was the beginning of a great friendship.


End file.
